Pure Life House of Music in collaboration with Terminus Blues Dance Atlanta brings you a day of music and social dancing featuring Jontavious Willis and lessons with Damon and Kelsy Stone.

Please join us as we welcome the Blues dancing community to LaGrange!

Schedule:

Visit “TICKETS” to register for the workshop or purchase tickets for the concert and social dancing

• 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM Jukin’ Blues Dance Workshop

  Workshop classes:

  Jukin' I: Dance like no one is watching

  The blues dances of the rent parties and juke joints are the "down home" dances done when people wanted to let their hair down and didn't care who was watching. We will cover a number of foundational dance movements that serve as the basics of these dances.

  Jukin' II: Electric Boogaloo

  We will learn more funky blues dances and really concentrate on what in the music spurs our movement. Newer dancers will increase their juke joint style-of-dance while more experienced dancers will gain new musicality and improvisation skills.

• 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM Dinner break - Catering announcement coming soon…

• 7:00 - 8:00 Drop-in Class

  A Taste of Blues

  Damon and Kelsy will cover the basics of a number of different Blues dances giving you a broad vocabulary of moves and styles. No matter what style of Blues music is played you will be on the floor living it up.

• 8:00 - 11:00 Social Dancing with Jontavious Willis and Band

DAMON STONE

Damon has been dancing his entire life, starting with vernacular Jazz/Blues first taught to him at the tender age of six by his grandmother. After nearly a decade of learning at the heels of his elders - he eventually studied a score of different dance forms until coming full circle in 1995 to focus primarily on the history and styles of Swing and Blues as his family danced them with a special focus on the Southern styles from the Mississippi Delta region. He has studied the development of vernacular Jazz/Blues dance across the United States learning from a number of the original dancers.

He is largely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on Blues idiom dance, and has been interviewed as a dance historian in documentary, radio, and newspaper. Damon has been a featured instructor at camps, festivals, and workshops around the world.

KELSY STONE

Kelsy brings her lifetime of dance training, a passion for vernacular dance, and a sharp eye for technique to the Blues dance world. She has brought her joy and knowledge of blues idiom dances to some of the most important and high-profile events in the US and abroad, including but not limited to bluesSHOUT! The Experiment, Muse, Hearken the Blues, and BluesGeek--serving as faculty, mentor, competition coordinator, and judge.

Kelsy's critical eye and love of deep technique are tempered by her love of "dad jokes," getting lost in the music and embracing of the ridiculous. She shows her appreciation of African American culture by speaking of the history of Blues idiom dance and taking her craft seriously, but never herself. She believes every mistake is an opportunity to learn, every class an opportunity to challenge, and every dance an opportunity to pay respect to those who came before.

JONTAVIOUS WILLIS

Jontavious Willis is resolved in his mission: to reinvigorate today’s Blues with the spirit of the past. Inspired by a time when the Blues were plentiful and rhythm reigned supreme, Jontavious leverages his unique sound—a synthesis of his Georgia heritage and reverence for traditional Blues—to get the world dancing again. A Grammy-nominated musician and songwriter, Jontavious performs original, toe-tapping tunes in the style of Delta, Piedmont, Texas, and Gospel Blues. Dynamic vocals, technical prowess, and an abundance of Southern charm keep Jontavious sending jolts of vitality through the Blues community.

Jontavious was born and raised in rural Georgia, an environment with deep cultural roots that provides the inspiration he has continuously drawn upon to create his unique sound. He spent much of his childhood singing Gospel music at the Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church with his grandfather, which provided him his first setting to perform for an audience. An early phenom, his passion for the Blues was sparked at age 14 when he came across a YouTube video of Muddy Waters playing “Hoochie Coochie Man.” He achieved widespread acclaim when living legend Taj Mahal invited Jontavious to accompany him onstage in 2015, with Taj describing him as his “Wonderboy.” Jontavious was invited to open for Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ during their joint TajMo tour in 2018, giving him an opportunity to present his work on a national stage.

Blue Metamorphosis, his acoustic debut album released in 2016, garnered rave reviews in Living Blues and Blues & Rhythm and won the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge 2018 Award for Best Self-Produced CD. His Grammy-nominated sophomore album, Spectacular Class, sees Jontavious survey an array of Blues styles with lively ensemble performances. Jontavious features prominently in solo shows and festivals across the world, sharing his unique blend of time-honored yet modern, intellectual yet danceable Blues with all.